Reunited

Simon opened his eyes and saw nothing. Everything was black around him. Why was everything dark, he tried to remember... a sandstorm... Sarah! Where was Sarah? "Sarah!" he cried out in a panic, "Sarah! Where are you?"

"I'm here," answered a small voice "I can't see, I'm scared."

Simon groped around until he found her hand, he gave it a gentle squeeze and pulled her into his arms. "It's okay, I'm here. We're going to be fine." After his panic died down, Simon began to notice that his head was aching. He gently touched his head and felt a bump, no blood though, thankfully. He started to remember what happened.

Simon's village was running lower and lower on resources. His grandmother had been sick for a very long time and was very unlikely to make it for very much longer. Simon's mother had been taken a long time ago, along with any other abled body person in their village, leaving Simon and his little sister Sarah alone with their grandmother. However, she was so sick and feeble it was hard to tell who was taking care of whom most days. Finally Simon decided to strike out and search for a better place for his sister and him. He left his grandmother in the care of their neighbor, a kind lady who promised to sit with her until she crossed over. Simon hated leaving her, but he had Sarah to think about. Sarah was only five years old, Simon was twelve, he was responsible for her. So, with his responsibilities in mind, Simon packed up as much supplies as he could, put Sarah up on the handles of his bicycle and set off in search of some place better.

Ever since the great war most of what was left of the world was desert wasteland. Eventually underground springs made their way back to the top and small communities formed around them, but whether those communities were overseen by kind people or ruthless people was always a gamble. Places like Simon's village got their food and water through trading with passing merchants and drifters, but the bigger towns were always switching leaders and there was rarely ever peace. Simon didn't relish the thought of living in one of these places, but if he could just find a small spot for him and his sister to set up and get a job to help them survive it seemed worth it.

Simon and Sarah had been traveling for about a week when the sandstorm hit. Sandstorms were common enough, but this was the first one he had faced without his small house to huddle in. Thankfully, just before the storm got on them Simon noticed a nearby cave. He peddled as fast as he could! He made it, but not without hitting a pile of rocks on the way in. His bike flipped and he and Sarah took a tumble to the ground, that's when he must have knocked his head.

"Are you okay?" Simon asked his little sister.

"Yes, I was just afraid because you wouldn't answer me and it got so dark." Sarah replied.

"I'm sorry, I just hit my head, but I'm okay now. The sun must have gone down, that's why it's so dark. The sun was almost setting when the storm hit. The cave just makes it feel darker because we can't see the stars in here." Simon explained to Sarah trying to calm her down. As he talked he felt gently along her head, arms, and legs making sure she really wasn't hurt. She seemed fine, Sarah was a tough little girl, but then you had to be to grow up in this world.

Simon got to his feet, his eyes were starting to adjust slightly to the darkness. "Come on, let's find somewhere to sleep for the night."

"Wait!" Cried Sarah, "I can't find my locket! It's gone, mommy is gone!"

Simon dropped to his knees and started to feel along the ground, "It's okay Sarah, it has to be here somewhere, we'll find it."

Sarah was three when their mother was taken. Right before she was shoved into the back of the work wagon she took her heart-shaped locket off and gave it to Simon. Simon ended up giving it to Sarah to help comfort her when she cried for their mother. Inside the locket was a picture of their father on one side and their mother on the other. Their father had died before Sarah was born, now their mother was gone as well. The locket was the only thing they had left of their parents.

Simon remained calm on the outside for Sarah's sake, but on the inside he was starting to panic as well. Just when he thought he couldn't hold his panic inside any longer the moon came out and something on the floor started glistening. "Here it is!" Simon cried in triumph, "See, I told you we would find it!" Simon handed the locket to his sister with a reassuring smile.

Sarah wiped the tears from her eyes, smearing her face with a mixture of dirt and tears, "Thank you! Simon you can find anything!" She placed the necklace gingerly around her neck then jumped into Simon's arms. Simon carried her to the wall of the cave and they found a place to curl up and sleep. Simon hoped he really could find anything, including a safe home for them.

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Melody looked out across the desert from her window. It had been two years since she was taken from her village, from her children. Food was hard to grow since the great war had desolated most of the earth, and it took a lot of work to make a large enough crop to use for trading. The larger towns would go to the small village outskirts, take anyone who was able and force them to work in their fields, vineyards, or with their herds of livestock. The stronger or more unruly people got sent out into the desert to dig for water, sometimes they would just collapse from exhaustion or dehydration. Whether or not they were taken care of when that happened depended on the mood of the overseer.

Melody had worked diligently in a vineyard for the last two years, keeping her head down and her mouth shut. Recently she had captured the eye of James, one of the more wealthy men in town. After a few months of negotiating, he was finally able to convince the owner of the vineyard to give her to him. Melody was terrified, the vineyard was hard work, but she had been left alone as long as she did her job. However, to her surprise, James was very kind. He asked that she give him two months to prove himself to her and if she still didn't want to stay with him, then she was free to leave.

Over the last two months Melody had been treated very kindly. She had her own room, plenty of food, and access to water whenever she wanted. She had even gotten to enjoy a relaxing bath! On top of that James was pleasant company. He gave her stimulating conversation, taught her to play chess, and true to his word, he never once asked her to do anything she was uncomfortable with.

When Melody told him about her village and the children she left behind he started making inquiries to find out where her village was and how they could get back to it to find her children. Melody was shocked when she discovered this. She was sure James would tell her to choose between staying there and returning to her children, but he was ready to welcome them into her home with open arms.

Two months had come and gone and Melody had certainly fallen in love with James. Now if she could just get her children to her somehow, everything would be perfect.

"I found them"

Melody whirled around at the words and looked at James with disbelief, "You found them?!"

"Well, to be specific I found out where your village is." James clarified, "It is northeast of here, three days by horseback."

"When will we leave?" Melody said breathlessly. She started pace around the room restless, wanting to already be on the road.

"It will take two days to get enough supplies to last. We will need enough to get there and back, and extra in case of any emergency.

Melody bit her lip, fighting back her anxiety. They had been without her for two years, but now the thought of two days before even starting out seemed like an eternity. "Okay, just let me know if there is anything I need to do, anything that will help speed things up."

James smiled, "I will, I promise. For now just rest, it will be a hard journey."

Two days later Melody and James started out, they each had a horse and a saddle with room to add one kid each. They had been walking at a steady pace for about three hours when they saw two small figures in the distance.

"What could that be?" asked Melody

"I'm not sure, they look small to be drifters... almost like children." replied James squinting to try and see better.

Something fluttered inside Melody, she couldn't explain it, it didn't make sense, but she knew. "It.... it looks like children" she half whispered.

James looked at her, "What are the chances?

Melody didn't wait to make the calculations, she flew forward as fast as her horse could carry her. She heard James yelling something behind her but she was too focused on the children to make it out.

In no time at all Melody had closed the gap between her and the children, her children. She didn't understand how or why her children were standing in front of her... she didn't care. Melody flung herself down from the horse and just stared at the two little figures in front of her, she started sobbing. "Simon! Sarah! Is it really you? How did you know where to find me? How did you get here?"

Simon stared in disbelief, it had been a while since he and Sarah had eaten and he was wondering if the hunger was making him hallucinate. Sarah lost no time though, "MOMMY!" she squealed almost incoherently as she jumped into Melody's waiting arms, "Simon! Simon! It's mommy, I knew you could find anything, you found mommy!"

Tears rolled silently down Simon's cheek. He walked slowly to his mother, hesitating to touch her for fear she would disappear like a mirage.

"It's okay Simon, I'm really here. We are together again." Melody said through tears. She wrapped her arms around Simon and held him tightly.

Just them James joined them, hopping down from his horse with a laugh. "I was telling you to be careful, you've only been riding for two weeks. You seem to have the hang of it though!" he laughed again and looked at the children.

"Hello there!" James greeted the children with a warm smile, "We were on our way to get you, you certainly made our journey easy. How did you come to find us?"

As they headed back into the city, Simon told his story of needing to find more food and water and in return Melody told her story about being found by James. Simon realized that he found more than a small spot for him and Sarah to lay their heads. He found his mother, and she had a home ready for them. He closed his eyes and fresh tears rolled down his cheek as he realized he didn't have to take care of everything anymore, he could be a kid again.